Leap’s Learning Band Jammin’ Boombox
Leap’s Learning Band Jammin’ Boombox (or Leap's Learning Band for short) is a toy created by LeapFrog, teaming up with LeapZone in 2000/early 2001. It is basically shaped like a real stereo radio/CD player. Product Description You have entered a music hall. You have heard a piano playing, a trombone blowing, a flute playing, and the famous "ra-tat-tat" on a drum... but what could be more fun than just hearing these sounds? It looks like a boombox but is so much more... 1, 2, 3 and it's time to strike up the band, sing and dance, and have some snappy and musical sing-along learning fun - with Leap, Lily, and their friends Casey and Dan, on the Jammin' Boombox! Young musicians can learn colors, songs, and instrument names and sounds. Just press down on the characters to hear them introduce themselves, their instruments and then play a song for you. Hear them individually, or add them all together to hear the entire band! Teaches... * 25 preloaded songs and 5 original learning songs (30 songs to sing-along with) * Instrument names and sounds * Creativity - create your own songs Features * Three wacky sound effects add to the fun * Volume control * Automatic shut-off Characters with Instruments *Leap keeps the groove with the trombone. *Lily gets the melody started with the piano/keyboard. *Casey makes the tunes happy with the flute. *Dan brings the rhythms with the drums. Instruments with their Sounds *The piano has a sparkling, bright tone. *The trombone has a chromatically powerful sound. *The flute sounds like a nightingale singing. *The drums sound like a musical “boom-boom-crash!” heartbeat. Characters on different colored stages Wacky Sound Effects *Boing *Bike-horn honk *Sparkle Learning Mode In learning mode, a male show host prompts the player to identify colors, instruments, and sounds by pressing on the corresponding characters, and it includes questions about the person grooving on a color stage (red, yellow, green, blue) or playing a musical instrument (either the piano, drums, trombone, or flute). Questions Asked * "Can you find who is grooving on the _______ stage?" * "Can you find who is playing the ________?" Answering the Questions and Rewards If the player answers the color prompt portion correctly, he or she will be rewarded with a verbal praise and the correct answer. If the player answers the instrument portion correctly, he or she will be congratulated with a musical introduction - he/she says his/her name, introduces the instrument and then plays it to the user, demonstrating its sound (e.g. Leap: “I’m Leap -- I keep the groove with the trombone! (TOOTING TROMBONE)”; Casey: '“I’m Casey! I make it happy with the flute. ('PLAYING FLUTE)”''). When Lily says "Let's go again!", the questions will be nonstop. Music Mode The show host says the title of the song name and he or she can choose any of the 30 songs. When waiting for a song to be selected, the player can press a character to hear him/her play some music ''(e.g. Press Lily and she will start playing a piano melody for the player). The 25 preloaded songs include educational songs songs, special occasion songs songs, children's classics songs, classical music songs, jazz and American classics songs, and Latin songs songs. In addition to the 25 preloaded tunes, five original songs make some good use of rhyming, counting, alphabet, phonics and music, especially the one song from the LeapFrog CD "1-2-3 Sing!" - This is the Way We Hear the Band - in which it teaches musical instruments and their sounds. He or she can: * Listen to the instruments play their own parts individually (e.g. Eliminate the other 3 instruments' parts and just hear the flute play its own part during the song "Yankee Doodle") * Layer them together for a "big band sound" (e.g. Hear all instruments play the "Happy Birthday") Some songs play without words ''(also known as "music minus one"), but the player can join the band by pressing one of three wacky sound effect buttons, or by simply singing along, if he or she feels "vocal". In total, all the songs inspire experimentation and a deeper understanding of how each of the four instruments play together when characters are added or subtracted from the lineup. Activation And Deactivation The player can press the musician to add or subtract instruments during songs. Song List Educational Songs #The Alphabet Song (alphabet) #Our Fabulous Band (counting) #Name Game (rhyming) #Fiddle Around with the Middle Sound (phonics/rhyming) #This is the Way We Hear the Band (musical instrument sounds) Special Occasions #Happy Birthday #America the Beautiful #Yankee Doodle Popular Classics #Ring Around the Rosy/A Tisket, A Tasket #The Itsy Bitsy Spider #Pop! Goes the Weasel! #Hickory, Dickory, Dock #Sing a Song of Sixpence #Jack and Jill #Hey Diddle Diddle #Here We Go Looby Loo Classical Music #Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik #Vivaldi: Spring from "The Four Seasons" #Beethoven: Ode to Joy from "Symphony No. 9" Jazz and American Classics #Jazzy Jam #Sousa March #When the Saints Go Marching In #Ta-Ra-Ra Boom-De-Ay Latin Songs #La Cucaracha #Jarabe Tapiato (The Mexican Hat Dance) Adding more songs With the LeapLink Mode, the player can add more songs in range from classical to jazz to holidays and more to this radio, since the toy is portable to boot songs via the internet. After booting more content to the toy, the band - Leap, Lily, Casey and Dan - will call him/her by name and tell the player they have songs booted for him/her and he/she can sing and dance to the player's favorite songs of their choice. LeapZone Advantages * Download from an endless selection of all your favorite songs ''(e.g. The player downloads his/her favorite song of his/her choice, such as "ABC by The Jackson 5", "Good Morning the musical "Singin’ in the Rain"", "Spring (The Four Seasons) Vivaldi" or "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles" to the toy via LeapLink and then hears it played) * Select your child's themes, or favorites for any time of year (e.g. Birthdays) Trivia * It is the first music-related LeapFrog toy that was released to stores. * The toy’s rendition of "Yankee Doodle" ''also appears in the White Explorer Globe, however, the globe plays a portion of this version, which has the audio straight from this toy that plays the complete version of the song. * The original LeapFrog song "''Jazzy Jam" ''has a similar sound-alike to Raven-Symoné's "Hip Hop Teddybear" and the theme song for the Nickelodeon show ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air by Will Smith, but uses singing instead of rapping; the song's title even referred to the hip-hop DJ performer DJ Jazzy Jeff. * It is the first time we hear actor Michael Mendelsohn break the fourth wall and narrate as the show host to the users. * Lily (the musician with the piano) was seen wearing yellow headphones. * This can be used with a headphone jack for quiet play. Production Credits Manufacturers Larry Lynch Jim Marggraff Mike Wood Music and Songs Jeanne Parson Judy Munsen Arrangements of Songs Jeanne Parson all arrangements and music © 2000 LeapFrog Enterprises, Knowledge Kids, and Rounder Records, Inc Voice Characterizations Michael Mendelsohn: Show Host Zac Schuman: Leap Kelsey Lally: Lily Ali Lynne Samuel: Casey Richard Streeter: Dan Song vocals for "This is the Way We Hear the Band" Blair Boren, Hannah Boren, Peter Kappen and Vita Romano (p) and © 2000 LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. and Knowledge Kids Productions Gallery * Original Product Demonstration Video * Watch a demonstration of the product! Category:Toy Category:Music Category:Music Toys Category:LeapZone